by Ioanna Stamataki & Thomas R. Kjeldsen Bath has always had a mixed relationship with the river Avon. Only in recent years have new developments such as Bath Quays Waterside started promoting river living as desirable and reconnecting Bath to its river, whereas all historical buildings located riverside are facing away from the river; resembling the city turning its back on flooding and poor water quality. The history of efforts to combating the scourge of flooding in the city of Bath has been documented by illustrious accounts by, for example, Buchanan (1998) and Greenhalgh (1974). Buchanan (1998) traced evidence of flooding back to Roman times, but modern accounts starts in the 19th century. Following flooding in 1823 (flood marks can be found in Grove Street) a Flood Relief Committee was formed, who commissioned Thomas Telford (a famous engineer of the time) to propose a solution. His scheme was costed at about £47,000 (£5,311,000 in today’s money) and included removal of obstacles such as the five arch Old Bridge (present day Churchill Bridge) and re-alignment of channel section to increase flow capacity. However, at the time the scheme was considered too expensive and never materialised. Instead, people and businesses impacted by flooding was compensated by the Major’s Relieve fund. Figure: The Old Bridge from a plate by W. Watts, 1819 (Smith, 1948 Following a record-breaking flood event in October 1882 (flood mark can be seen under Halfpenny Bridge), the Bath Cooperation commissioned another report into flood defence options, which resulted in a scheme designed by Messrs Coode, Son and Matthews proposing a series of infrastructure measures which included: deepening of the river, enhancement of existing weirs, replacement of Old Bridge and enhancement of existing bridges with steel sheet piles. His scheme was estimated at about £100,000 (£12,058,301 in today’s money). A more imaginative scheme was proposed after the two distinct floods of 13th and 15th November 1894 by Mr Remmington, a London -based engineer, who in 1896 proposed a by-pass channel from Limpley Stoke Valley to below Twerton. Neither schemes were ever carried through to construction. Extensive flooding followed in 1947 and in 1953 the then chief engineer Frank Greenhalgh (Chief Engineer) initiated work on what would eventually become the present-day Bath flood protection scheme. A scheme proposed some year’s earlier by Mr Greenhalgh’s predecessor, Mr Mercer, similar to the 1882 scheme, had been abandoned at the outbreak of WW2. Four options were initially considered for the flood defence scheme
The first option was considered uneconomical, and no suitable location with sufficient space could be identified near Bath. The third option was presumably unsightly as well as concerns about seepage and lack of drainage facilities. As a result, the fourth option was chosen, noticing its resemblance to the original scheme proposed in 1823 by Thomas Telford. The implementation of the Bath Flood Protection Scheme consisted of ten phases summarised below. Figure: The Bath Flood Protection Scheme
Phase VII: Pulteney Weir remodelled and provided with a new sluice gate, protection of Pulteney Bridge foundations and regrading of channel ceases. Phase VIII: Diversion of Services wherever they occur. Phase IX: One bank to have vertical masonry faced concrete wall and the other bank to be sloping earth with stone toe protection. Phase X: Dredging along length from Twerton to upstream limit. The scheme was designed to defend the city against the worst flood on record which at the time was considered to be the 1882 flood, estimated to have a peak flow of 12,950 cusecs (366.7 m3/s). However, in December 1960 Bath experienced an even larger flood, peaking at an estimated flow rate of 424.4 m3/s (this is estimated as the flood exceeded the capacity of the monitoring system). Figure: Photographs of the 1960 flood by Rec. W.H. Parsons. Photograph looking downstream from Old Bridge (left) and Pulteney Bridge (right) (Buchanan, 1998 The Bath Flood Protection Scheme has reduced Bath’s flood risk but based on an information note produced by the Environment Agency and Bath & North East Somerset Council (2017) there are estimated to be over 500 properties (January 2017) in Bath at risk of flooding with a 1% chance of flooding in any one year; a number expected to increase in the future with climate change impact. The EA and B&NES work in partnership and continue to manage flood risk and provide future improvement solutions to the scheme. Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to the Environment Agency staff in Bridgwater for their help and assistance. References
Buchanan, R.A., 1998. Bath History. Millstream Books. Environment Agency and Bath & North East Somerset Council, 2017. Managing flood risk in Bath: Information Note [Online]. ed. Available from: https://www.bathnes.gov.uk/sites/default/files/managing_flood_risk_in_bath_briefing_note_30.01.17_final.pdf Greenhalgh, F., 1974. Bath Flood Protection Scheme. Wessex Water Authority. Smith, R.A.L., 1948. Bath. Third ed.
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